Dignity for displaced women and girls in Lebanon

Introduction; 

The proposed intervention aims at enhancing protection and access to services for adolescent girls at risk of early marriage (one of the most recurrent forms of SGBV in Lebanon). Through response services to those adolescents identified as at risk of early marriage, or already married, alongside sensitizing family members around root causes and harmful consequences of this practice,Naba’a propose a project that fills a crucial gap in the SGBV response in the South of Lebanonincluding Palestinian refugee camps and Syrian refugees.

Therefore, a full package of quality services will be offered to young women, girls and GBV survivor (in particular early marriage cases) in Naba’as safe spaces, including counseling and consultation, referral for case management services, sexual and reproductive health and psychosocial support. In terms of sexual and reproductive health, it is known that adolescent girls who got married to older men, frequently suffer power imbalances and are more likely to experience intimate partner violence and forced sexual intercourse. They are also at increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections. Moreover, this demographic is at increased risk of obstructed labor, which may generate fistulas, infant mortality and mother’s suffering. The proposed intervention will increase health education and awareness surrounding symptoms and treatment of reproductive tract infections, will foster family planning, address pre-term birth and increase psychosocial support for beneficiaries in need of SRH services.

 Main Achievements; 

The aforementioned overall interventions in a GBV project address both the immediate and long-term needs of survivors, contributing to their safety, well-being, and empowerment. These interventions are crucial in mitigating the risks associated with GBV and can be instrumental in saving lives. For this reason, the impact is significant; The interventions’ impacts detailed below:

1. Providing Safety and Protection: Interventions often include safety planning which can immediately remove individuals from dangerous situations, potentially saving lives.
2. Prevention of Escalation: Early intervention can prevent the escalation of violence. GBV, particularly domestic violence, can escalate in severity over time, leading to more dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations.
3. Comprehensive support which are an integrated approach combines legal, medical, psychological, and social services to provide holistic support to survivors. This ensures that all aspects of a survivor's needs are addressed, from immediate safety to long-term recovery and empowerment.
4. Coordinated Response: Different service providers work in collaboration, ensuring a coordinated and seamless response. This reduces the burden on survivors, who might otherwise have to navigate multiple, disjointed services on their own.
5. Prevention and Education: Integrating awareness-raising and educational campaigns within the approach helps in addressing the root causes of GBV and changing societal norms. This preventative aspect is crucial for long-term impact.
6. Tailored Interventions: By considering the unique circumstances and needs of each survivor, integrated services can offer more personalized and effective interventions. This approach recognizes the diversity of experiences and challenges faced by GBV survivors.
7. Community Engagement: Engaging the wider community in the response to GBV helps in building a supportive environment for survivors and contributes to broader social change.

Case Study

1. A.D is a 5-year-old Palestinian refugee who lives in Ein El Helwe camp with his father, husband, wife, two sisters, and three brothers. The social workers at Nabaa observed that Adel dropped out of school and stayed on the street with dirty clothes. So home visits were done to caregivers, and after communication with his parents, the social worker noticed that Adel has problems with speech (he cannot speak well) as well as his movement (he has Arched legs), and due to these problems, all kindergartens rejected him. So the social worker registered him at Nabaa kindergarten to take his right to education and to be in a safe space. Also, the social worker referred him to a speech therapy center to follow up with him, and she also referred him to a doctor to diagnose the problem of his movement. After an x-ray, the doctor observed that Adel was suffering from arched legs, and he gave him a leg brace that helped in improving his movement. Note that all financial fees have been paid by Nabaa. Moreover, the teacher has done several individual plans to improve his educational performance, and the social worker has done several home visits to follow up with him as well as merge his caregivers with different awareness sessions such as how to stay clean, how to deal with children, how to take care of children, and different topics. So on mid-year, we observed improvements in his educational performance, behaviour, being clean, movement and speech.

Links:

• Naba'a Website